


The Sanders Manor

by who_is_mattatatatat



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: All the sides die, Character Death, Death, Implied/Referenced Suicide, M/M, Major Character Injury, Suicide, sorry - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-01-12
Updated: 2019-01-11
Packaged: 2019-10-08 15:28:19
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,899
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17388941
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/who_is_mattatatatat/pseuds/who_is_mattatatatat
Summary: Thomas Sanders, an inspiring photographer, has recently moved into a manor that has been handed down generation after generation. No one has occupied the manor in near a century due to suspicions that it was haunted. Some say that it's haunted by past tragedies. Some say that the hauntings are nothing more than common ghost tales. Thomas moves in regardless because it was passed down to him by his family and he'd give anything to be closer to his family.Though he learns that his family was not always the owner of such a marvelous building.





	The Sanders Manor

**Author's Note:**

> What up, it's ya boy, uh, death. This took far too long to write because I either got sidetracked or was too tired to even open my laptop. ANYWAYS. Here is a new Sander Sides fanfic! Based off of a writing prompt from coconut-cluster on Tumblr. They gave me permission to write it and have talked about the next few chapters this will have! Because I love him so much Deceit will indeed be somewhere in this story.
> 
> Leave your comments below ! I love reading them no matter how full of love, hate, heartbreak, or screams the messages may be.

Thomas stopped a few feet away from the massive house before him. He still couldn’t believe that this manor was his and his alone. Yes, it had been inherited but he couldn’t begin to wrap his head around it. The thought of it being only his made him feel a bit uneasy but he easily shook it off. It was a way for him to get a little closer to his family. It was amazing but also intimidating. This was his new home! But what was he going to do with all the space it held? He didn’t even know if it was still furnished or not. He sure hoped it was. “Alright,” Thomas took in a deep breath. “Let’s do this.” He sighed softly as he began to grab the few boxes he had shoved into the passenger seat. 

The house itself was tall and intimidating but also warm and inviting. The two opposite auras put him off but he continued towards the house regardless. The long walkway and steps were made out of stones of various sizes smoothed out and transitioned into smooth concrete to the door. On each side on the sidewalk stood tall bushes of flowers he couldn’t identify. They were all of various colours and sizes. Whoever lived here earlier took good care of them and the others that crowded the garden and sides of the house. He counted twelve windows in the front of the house alone. How many rooms could there be? The front door was dark with carvings all over it. What they were Thomas didn’t know, only that they looked nice. Pushing down the creeping nervousness he slowly opened the door.

“My gods..” His eyes instinctively went up. The ceiling was impossibly tall though that should be expected with it being the foyer. He couldn’t see but it looked like the ceiling tiles had been carved on each edge to create so sort of image. They were marble white making him wonder how they stayed cleaned. How could anyone reach that? Ahead of him was a long staircase that split off in two different directions leading to the second story. The railings were made of dark brown wood that seemed to be the only simple design in the house. It was lined with a dark navy rug with white trimming. “This place is so...fancy..” He couldn’t find the words to express his awe.

He stopped for a few minutes to take in the feeling of the house. It was so quiet. Almost deafening. He didn’t know what he was expecting seeing as no one had lived here in decades. He wondered how many decades had passed since someone, anyone, had walked through its halls. He brushed off the odd tension that was growing around his and went to grab more boxes. He had to make another trip back home seeing as what was in his car was what he could only fit.

After about seven boxes a soft breeze from the kitchen caught his attention. He turned around to see if he had left the door open but it stood their closed. Odd.. He bit his lip deciding to explore the kitchen instead of the rest of the house like his original plan was after he finished unpacking. Perhaps the kitchen window had been left open? That wouldn’t be good since it had definitely rained a few times before his arrival. He hummed softly noting that the window was indeed closed. Odd indeed. He was somewhat glad the kitchen was simple. It was rather large but he guessed that was appropriate with how large this house was. His attention was grabbed by the dining room making him forget his original objective.

An unnecessarily long table sat on the far side of the kitchen in the dining room. That was going to get some using to but that was alright. He liked how the table legs curled up in a ball form. It reminded him of small waves. He took notice that a long white table cloth sat on the table. To his surprise it had an intricate lace trim. Everything here seemed so expensive. What did the previous owner do to afford so many items? His thought was cut off by another soft breeze, like a soft sigh, that passed right through him. He turned around expecting to see some sort of window he hadn’t spotted open. Yet there wasn’t one.

He decided to ignore this and move back to the foyer. It was time to explore the rest of the house. If the kitchen was still furnished then he bet the rest of the house was too.

\---

It took a few days but with the help of his friends he was able to move all of his belongings into the house. He had chosen the room that held the least amount of furniture and was eventually able to arrange everything to his liking. Admittedly it took awhile to get used to but he liked it! Even after a few months he enjoyed roaming the house as though he hadn’t memorized its layout. During the day he especially liked going to the backyard which consisted of a large field bordered by tall ageless trees.

He always meant to wake up early one morning to catch the sunrise. A few weeks ago it occurred to him that since this house was so far away from any other and it had a good view of the rest of the city that maybe, just maybe, the sunset was a sight to see. But with his out of whack sleep schedule he always missed it. He knew it would be the perfect picture but he couldn’t help but sleep until noon then lament about it later.

But today was the day! He made sure he went to bed at a decent time, a first for him in a long time, and set multiple alarms for late five. The sun was supposed to rise around six and he really didn’t want to miss it. His portfolio was great but this would make it greater! Or at least that’s what he liked to think. With such a view who wouldn’t like it?

Once he got out of bed, after nearly beating his phones alarms asleep, he slowly but surely made his way over to where he thought he left his camera. “Oh wait.” He nearly tripped over a pile of clothes trying to move over to the balcony that had been opened wide letting in the morning breeze in. He had taken a few pictures of the night sky last night before he went to bed and made sure he bolted it. Yet there it was wide open. This was a daily occurrence since he settled in and it took awhile for him to notice but the exact same thing happened on the third floor. Despite his best efforts to close them and keep them locked they always were opened come morning. A distant thought that he tried to ignore came back up. ‘Am I honestly alone?’ After closing it he grabbed his camera that sat on the dresser, where it didn’t belong, and tried his best to get downstairs without falling still half awake.

He wanted to go out and take a few pictures from the front yard. With the large bushes on both sides of the sidewalk it was sure to make a nice picture. He also wanted to take more closer to the end of the drive. He hoped the greenery would help it stand out among the many sunsets other photographers took.

He had made it halfway towards the door when out of the corner of his eye he spotted a blue shadow dance across the island in the kitchen. A chill ran down his spine making him freeze on the spot. He was torn between ignoring it and repressing that image or tiptoeing to the kitchen to see what that was. Curiosity won after a few seconds of weighing his options. On one hand he’d be able to get a picture of what he’s been wanting for awhile. On the other hand he could figure out what, or who, that was. Though he wanted more than anything to see that sunset he pushed himself away arguing that he could wake up another morning to get the exact same shot. It wasn’t as though the sun rarely rose.

He inched closer to the kitchen trying to keep as quiet as possible. The entrance to the kitchen was a large square in the wall just like any other house. Though this one, and he still couldn’t find a plausible reason, was much larger than any he had seen. The only justification he could find was that it had to do with how big the house was. Still, did it have to be so big? Humming shook himself out of his thoughts. He grabbed the edge of the entrance and peered in trying not to spook what, or whoever, was there. What was there to spook?!

“Oh, hello!” A man waved from the window of the kitchen opening the curtains. For a dead man he radiated positivity and warmness that calmed Thomas’s nerves a little. He was slightly on edge because there was a man in his house that he’s never seen before in his house. A main reason was because this man was see through and the edges of his body glowed light blue.

“Uh..Hi?” He wasn't sure what else to say. What was there to say? It wasn’t as though he’d met any other see through non-humans before.

“I’m Patton Heart!” The man walked over to Thomas and held out a hand. “It’s nice to actually meet you! Boy, I haven’t seen anyone come through here in the past,” He paused looking towards the floor. “Golly! It’s been nearly a hundred years!” Thomas didn’t know what else to do but shake Patton’s hand. To his surprise his hand didn’t go through his. Patton’s body was solid but his appearance said otherwise. He dressed rather cutely, fashionable. White slacks, a long sleeved light blue dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up above his elbows, black suspenders, and a bright blue bowtie. The only thing that didn’t match was the frilly apron he wore over.

“I’m Thomas Sanders.” He introduced himself slowly wondering if he was still asleep and this was just a very lucid dream. He honestly couldn’t tell. “Are..are you..” He really wanted to ask if Patton was a ghost or not but he didn’t want to insult him. He was being so nice to him!

“A ghost?” Patton laughed brightly. “Sadly, yes. I died in 1921.” He bit his lip but smiled regardless. There was a few moments of silence filled tension before he sighed.

“You see, I used to work here for the family that lived here, the Saint Johns? They all were a lively bunch,” He smiled fondly thinking back. “And I truly loved all of them so much.” He leaned against the counter facing Thomas who had now followed him into the kitchen. “I was the children's caretaker. William, James, Mary, and Ruth, two boys and two girls. Each of them only a year apart. I took care of them until,” He paused, a quick flash of distress, before smiling softly. “Well, till they died. Till we all died.”

“Oh gods. I’m sorry Patton I didn’t-” Thomas was going to apologize but was cut off.

“No! No, it’s okay. Like I said, I’ve had a lot of time to move on. Sometimes I like to look back and remember the times we played together, all the games the children liked? Mary and Ruth loved, no, adored to play hide and seek.” He smiled widely with a chuckle. “I’m rather tall so it was hard for me to partake in the game but I did regardless. The girls would act like they couldn’t see my feet from behind the curtains.” He pointed to the curtains on far side of the house where the “living room” sat. “William and James liked to play soldiers. Either with their toys or the two acting like they were real soldiers. They had these fake pop guns and everything. They would lower their voices and make silly commands at each other.”

“That sounds nice.” Thomas sat down at the island watching Patton ramble on about the late and last family that lived here. “What..what happened?” He tentatively asked. It was morbid curiosity more than anything else that made him ask. Patton had said earlier that he had time to think about it and move on so...so perhaps it was okay for him to ask?

Patton didn’t move. His expression was unreadable. It made Thomas instantly regret his question. Even with a quick apology Patton still didn’t move. His eyes were fixated on the living room floor, specifically the huge round rug that covered the entire area.

“Mr. Saint John was my employer. I was safe under his wing as long as I kept silent about his wrong doings and kept his children safe from his work. The kids never found out but that was given they were seven, eight, nine, and ten. I never did learn if Mrs. Saint John knew what her husband was doing. How he was able to afford such a place.” He gestured to the whole house, his eyes still trained on the living room floor. “One day...one day something extremely bad happened. I’ve given it plenty of thought but I still don’t know what exactly caused it other than something very important had gone wrong.” Patton fiddled with the hem of his apron taking in deep breaths to calm himself. Even though he had gotten over it, and he really did! He did move on..he couldn’t help but feel the familiar knot form in his throat form.

“W-Why he did it I’m-I’m not sure. I tried protecting them. I honestly did try my best. We were in the living room, all of us, waiting for Mr. Saint John to come home.” As he continued to retell the events his sentences became slower and slower as he looked down to his hands. One had moved to his abdomen, the other still fiddling with his apron. “I had just finished making dinner and was playing with the kids. I got James and William to play hide and seek with the girls and I. Mrs. Saint John was in her chair trying to read but would laugh every time I pretended I couldn’t find the kids.

I’d ask “Mrs. Saint John! I can’t find them anywhere! Do you know where they are?”” Patton let out a loud laugh. “She would laugh louder and deny knowing their location. It was always such fun.” He was smiling widely. “William would pop out from his hiding spot and try to scare me. I always screamed whether or not he caught me off guard.” He laughed softly at the memory. “We were in the middle of another round of hide and seek when..when Mr. Saint John came home.” Patton’s voice lowered and his smile dropped.

Thomas stood up and went to Patton’s side. “Hey, you don’t have to tell me. You know that, right? You’re clearly upset Pat.” He placed a hand on the other man's shoulders squeezing it tightly. “You don’t have to tell me.”

Patton only shook his head. “No! You deserve to know. I know you would give anything to get closer to your family by living here. You shouldn’t be haunted by the whys and whats of what once was here. It would only make you feel worse.”

“Alright…” Thomas said slowly and let go.

“He came home around, oh I’d say, eight? Possibly nine? Mrs. Saint John gave the kids permission to stay up late so they could run up to Mr. Saint John and tackle him in hugs. That’s what they always did when he came home and it made me smile every time. They would rummage his coat pockets to see if he brought any candies or treats home for them. It’s what he usually did.” Patton shook his head. Without warning he started to walk towards the living room. Thomas followed him softly.

Patton sat down on the coffee table that was placed next to a large chair, presumably Mrs. Saint John’s chair. “After a few decades someone came in and had all the furniture replaced. At first I was beyond distraught but the man replaced them with replicase of our old furniture. It helped but only a little.” He ran a hand over the fabric of the chair a few times before continuing.

“Mr. Saint John walked in like he usually did. But instead of candies he had a gun. He had sworn to me since William, the oldest, was born that he’d never let any harm come to his kids.” Patton crossed his arms around his body putting pressure on his abdomen as if letting go would bring back the pain. He knew it wouldn’t but he couldn’t help it. Tears stung his eyes but he tried his best to hold them back. It had been ninety-eight years after all. Shouldn’t he be okay?

Thomas sat down in a different chair on the opposite side of the room staring in horror. He had an idea of what happened but he didn’t want it to be true. Oh gods, don’t let it be true.

“I can’t tell you what prompted him to do it other than that he did. He came in through the door and before I could even react to the sight of the gun he pulled it out and..and shot Mrs. Saint John.” He whispered her death as though bringing it up would get him in trouble. Of course there wasn’t going to be any reprimand for it. Still.. Patton sucked in air he didn’t need. It helped him level his thoughts and speak clearly.

“The kids were the first to scream. Mary and Ruth had been hiding under the coffee table for their hiding spot. They were still very young and real small so they hid well. William was behind the bookshelf near the fireplace and James was bundled up in the curtains. That was his signature hiding spot. Mr. Saint John continued walking towards us so I grabbed the girls out from underneath the table and held them under each of my arms while shouting for James and William to hide. I begged them to hide because I thought Mr. Saint John knew where they were. I started to run for the back door, that one over there?” Patton pointed to the small hallway Thomas hadn’t noticed. It was so small and so well hidden that his eyes always glazed over it.

“I started crying when I heard the gun go off a second time. I saw,” Patton whimpered softly before sucking in air. “I saw James hit the ground. I started screaming over the children. I think it’s the loudest my voice has ever been.” He mumbled that last line. “The girls were squirming in my arms making it hard to hold them. I quickly set them down and grabbed their hands yelling for them to go.” Patton closed his eyes trying to stop the hiccups trying to escape his throat. “I saw William get shot as soon as he got out from behind the bookshelf.” His voice was high and tight. “At first it was his shoulder..his cry was blood curdling and then..then it stopped.” Patton was sobbing now, his eyes shut tightly looking like he was trying to block out the memories that refused to budge.

Thomas’s hands were covering his mouth unable to move. His whole body felt cold despite the warmth of the house. He wanted to move over to Patton to comfort him, to hold him, to tell him everything’s okay, but feared if he made any movement Patton would crumble and vanish. Instead he tried to call his name. “Patton?” His voice was so soft he wasn’t sure if he himself heard it. Patton’s head snapped up and he made eye contact with Thomas. After staring at one another Patton's sobs slowly subdued. 

Patton opened his mouth forcing himself to continue. “Next were the girls. They were screaming for Mrs. Saint John and didn’t understand why she wasn’t responding, why she wasn’t moving. They asked me why and all I could say was we have to go, we have to go, we have to go!” He closed his eyes again and held his breath. In four, hold seven, out eight. That’s what Logan taught him when he first appeared. In four, hold seven, out eight.

“I think Mr. Saint John took advantage of when I set them down. Why he would do such a thing I can’t imagine. He kept advancing towards us so he could get a closer range, or at least that’s what I think because he kept getting closer and closer. He shot Mary point blank and I began to beg. I begged him to stop but he didn’t even pause. He shot Ruth next and then me.” Despite his breathing exercises his voice was still dripping with desperation. “I don’t know why he decided to kill me last but he did. When I hit the ground I was lying on my side and it felt like I had forgotten how to breath. I didn’t see it but I heard the last shot. It had to be James. There was no more screaming but the pain was unbearable and after a minute or two I blacked out.”

The two looked at each other sadly. Neither of them moved.

“I still have the scar.” Patton spoke up after a while. “That’s why I like to keep this apron on, from the night I was cooking? You can’t see it if I wear this over it.” Patton let the death grip around himself loosen. “I’m not sure why I’m the only one who stayed behind. Logan thinks that it’s because I’m an old soul connected to the stars. I don’t know what that means but Logan was a witch so I believe him.” His expression softened now talking about Logan.

This new persons name caught Thomas’s attention. “Who’s Logan?”

Patton quickly sat up with a wide grin that most likely shouldn’t be there. Minutes before he was about to crumble in on himself but now he looked excited. “Logan lives on the third floor! We kinda let him take the whole floor because, well, he likes his privacy sometimes and doesn’t like to be interrupted. Though usually you can find him in the astronomy room!”

Thomas sputtered. “Astronomy room!? I’ve been through this house an insane amount of times! How? Wh-What?” His confusion was making Patton grin.

“It’s not really an astronomy room anymore but that’s what it was when and before Logan died. He studies the stars. He’s really smart. Maybe one day you can catch him? Though he’s a bit of a night owl..” Patton hummed before standing up.

“So! We’ve missed breakfast time so I should start to get to work on lunch. By the way,” Patton stopped halfway to the kitchen. “We need to talk about your grocery shopping.”

**Author's Note:**

> Fell down and scrapped your knee ? Tripped and bruised your arm ? Got shot in the chest ? Don't worry ! Just drag yourself to your kitchen and make yourself a nice and filing sandwich. Sandwiches can heal any type of injury and will get you up and moving in minutes. Don't have the proper ingredients to make one ? Worry not. Just open you fridge and whisper; "May I have the supplies to make a sandwich, please?" and in less that two minutes yours will appear in the vegetable drawer just for you to make and heal that shot wound right away.
> 
> This has been brought to you by Arbys.
> 
> Arbys. We have your meat.


End file.
